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let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. i'm not washington. let me start tonight with this. you can't steer a car with the engine off. it's problem with the republican party today. get rid of the cultural right, abortion and gay marriage, all those began who moving to the republican party over prayer in public school years ago and you kill one giant engine. get rid of the whackos and john mccain cats them and you lose another engine. all the libertarians who just want government out of their face and out of their lives and you kell another engine. try to do what ryan priebus is doing right now and you will see the problem, tristeering the car with your engine dead. tristeering the political party once you kill the motor. you set out to kill the big

motors of the republican party itself. for progressives the amazing thing here is people on the left, center left, and a big share of the center right now are together. they know why the republican established wants to free itself from the issues, they are relieved, thrilled really, it not them trying to hold together a motley crew. senior t strategist for rick santorum's political campaign. let me go -- i want to start with the basic question of a political party. this week's republican autopsy report it's being called urged the party to be more inclusive of gay people, women, minorities, did not go unnoticed by the social conservative wing of the party. the report makes little of their concerns. the report never mentions the word christian or church. there's know -- no talk of abortion. taking his base for granted. he told the national review,

quote, i just think right now there's a lot of concern in the party about both satisfying the money wing of the party and keeping libertarians on board. what we shouldn't do is say to the electorate, just tell whausz you want us to be. we'll change for you. just tell us what you want us to do. we'll do it. that's not a political party. that's just a bunch of pandering idiots. is that the nature of ryan priebus effort? we want everybody to vote republican but we don't want it to matter too much to them on abortion and gay rights and cultural values. we don't want those to get in the way. >> i don't think that's exactly what the report did. i honestly -- >> did it mention sany of this stuff? >> i think priebus did a pretty good job saying we have a problem. i think people are going to interpret the report the way they want. one of the things that i thought it was problematic, they never said, look, we we have "x" core values. there's a home for them in the republican party but they never

re-established the core values. some of the things relative to the presidential primaries. built in were biases which help wealthy candidates and frankly hurt tee party candidates and libertarians and that's billed throughout the effort. i do think it was a good effort. i think it's just a start. >> i think you've been very -- you're a politician and political consultant and you've got to say it the way you just said it. let's get back to reality. we go to joan on this. i know you're on the other side of this, but you're probably injoying it. i am, too, to a large extent. if you join the republican party since the last 50 years a lot of people who join the republican party didn't get rich and become republican, they were already evangelical, already culturally conservative. they went over and joined the republican party because the republican party is willing to say we'll bring religion -- organized prayer back to public school. we'll outlaw abortion. we won't go along with this new trend towards gay rights. we're with you in the church. how do you tell those people the

reason you joined the republican party they don't want to push too hard anymore, in fact, they want to sort of closet it? >> you can't really tell them that so nur not exactly saying that. you've got a spectacle where ryan priebus is saying, yes, we want gay people to vote for us but we won't change your policies. we won't give them equal rights. we've seen him backtrack now on gay marriage and, you know, we want african-americans to vote for us but we're going to suppress their votes in lots of states. so it's totally contradictory. they recognize they have a branding problem and messaging problem and, chris, the voters you're talking about have gotten old and some of them have passed away and left us. and the issue -- >> joan, you have just -- you have just basically said that your party is dying. >> well, first of all -- >> it is dying. >> you probably should take a look at how many governor's offices we do hold to see that this party is far from dying. they're generally pro life,

they're generally pro gun, they're generally pro marriage. >> it doesn't matter? >> they're not defined by that. >> if you vote for a pro life governor you're assured of one thing it doesn't matter because he's not going to change roev. wade. >> i will say this. as a party we make a big mistake and spend too much time on the issues. in that report there are two very -- >> i'm going to debate you on this. >> go ahead. >> the working class or the poor southerner, person making a decent income but not a lot, they don't carry about wall street. they care about christian religion, baptist relinl john, and they would like to have that inculture r inculturated throughout their life. you say the rich get richer but this religion stuff -- >> no, that became the core

value. >> it's not libertarianism or religion. >> there's a lot of people worry at night. believe me, they're not sitting there saying, geez, let's have more tax breaks for the wealthy and more loopholes to corporates. >> that's where your party stands. >> we have fought that battle and it's a mistake. we've got to get back to talking to middle income people about how they can reach the american dream. that's why we lost pennsylvania and ohio, wisconsin, michigan. we've got to get back to having people feel like we understand their lives. we're t not about just tax breaks for the wealthy. >> do you think -- i like your values here, by the way. i'd like to see your party really compete. democratic party offers pell grants, opportunities for working class kids to go to college, social security for people over 65 so they can avoid being below the poverty line. what has your party put up in that bidding war? what do you offer for those regular people? >> not enough. i'll give you way of example. we like to say that we're the pro life party. we're really not. we're the pro birth party. >> it's in your platform. >> we fight for the unborn.

>> john, it's right there in your platform. >> i'm saying pro life is more than just birth. it's after birth. so do we fight as hard for an african-american child in new york that goes -- >> joan, he's on your side. >> well, he's not. >> we can do that. >> go ahead. >> i respect your values, john, but i don't think you have anything to offer those young people either. the report says we're going to speak out about rising ceo pay and speak out about people losing their jobs. but speak out means nothing. what are your policies? why did the republican party dismantel the opportunity structure that created the vast middle class in the '40s, '50s, '60s. why did republicans decide that rich people needed to keep more money. why did george bush have a massive experiment in getting rich people back their money only to see the economy falling apart. you're not winning on those issues, oath either, john. >> joan, you're so right. you are better on this than i am normally. equal pay for equal women. your party has been slow on

that. >> i agree. i'm following our party. those are the changes that we should be making. here's what the real difference between the two parties in my opinion are. >> okay. >> the republican party has always said we're going to make sure you have opportunity that leads to unlimited success but not guaranteed success. that was the american dream. we've given that up because people say it's not attainable anymore and the democrats are selling we will give you guaranteed success but it's going to be very limited. >> who says that? >> no one guarantees success. >> find -- >> it's the governmental -- >> john, i don't know any democrat who talks like that. >> there's no no one who wants to guarantee success. >> i've never heard that anywhere. >> no, it's all about equal opportunity. we are about guaranteeing equal opportunity. we are about leveling the playing field. we're about bringing people up. and this is what worked in our society, john, when we were all children. this is what worked for generations of people. and then in the '70s we started cutting it back. that's where we are now. that's what your party hasn't

reckoned it. >> you know how i got in this chair? my dad was g.i. bill, in the navy in world war ii. he went to college. became middle class. four brothers and mine. i got here because i got the holy cross, good college. got national defense education loans i was in the peace corps, changed my lives. my father worked for the city of philadelphia. i have no problem with public service. that's where i'm at. that's how i got here. your party says that's degraded. i got a 47% because my father is on a g.i. bill and ended up on social security. what's wrong with government? >> look it -- >> good for most people. am i addicted to government? >> first of all, as a country, particularly to washington they're addicted to spending. we created this massive point -- >> you're on there. that's your winning -- you got the winning cad rig card right >> manufacturing, obama says those jobs are gone forever. >> he does not say that, actually. >> when did he say that? >> president obama did not say

that. >> we've got admit those jobs are gone. >> no. >> some. >> he worked hard to bring back manufacturing. >> perhaps most typical -- let's get back to our report. ryan priebus, it's about communication but the party never tried to stop to disten franchise, mainly poor african-american voters since the last election. stricter photo id laws in pennsylvania and shortening the early -- taking away the early voting in sunday in florida. by m my colleague took him to task on that. let's listen to michael. >> how does priebus reconcile his approach and agreement with voter registration policies that many in the black community view as anti-black, racist. you can show up any time. it's what you say and what you do when you get there that matters most to people. >> priebus was asked about steel's criticism right there this thorning. he dodged the question.

i think you will see the dodge. let's watch. >> what's your response to him? >> well, i'm not going to -- i'm not going to engage in an argument with michael. but, you know, the fact of the matter is you have to have the resources to be able to have an effective ground operation in minority communities. if you don't market and brand your party on a regular basis i think that you're going to continue to have problems. that's a big piece of what we're trying to do here. >> you know, it was well advertised by the republican party, not by you, they made a big effort to stop blacks from voting. do me, that's a message. people got it. >> i will tell you if they really 2kid try to do that that is absolutely wrong and there's no place for this in the party. >> the republican leader, this pennsylvania legislator said that's why you did it. >> well, i'm not going to answer to something i didn't see somebody say and i'm telling you on the record if somebody said that or somebody did that, it's wrong. the second problem is -- >> watch the hard ball report and you will see it. >> we talk a lot about, oh, we're going to get african-americans to go out in the african-american community for us.

so we're going to take a message that we haven't sold properly and just change the messenger. that's not right. we have never taken the time to truly understand women, hispanics, or african-americans go into the community and understand their lives and show them why our hope and our american dream is part of that. >> rush limbaugh clearly is not a fans of reince priebus. today he told husband awis audi. >> it's not con zer tives excluding anybody. if anybody's being excluded, it is the conservatives. and yet these guys are coming along, these establishment guys, and trying to act like whatever this party has become they haven't been running it. if they lose elections and they blame everybody else. they're running the party. we're not. safe to say? i mean, they're getting the nominees they want and they're losing and somehow it's our fault for being exclusive?

we're not excluding anybody. >> joan, last question. who lost the election the last time, people on the radio like rush, the far right? >> i think they make a really great team. i mean, rush limbaugh definitely helped lose that election. he turned off women. he was despicable in what he said about sandra fluke. but mitt romney talked about the 47%. they may not like each other but they are working together to alienate most of the american people. and that's what happened. >> joan, thank you for being with us. joen walsh in san francisco. the city hall right behind her there. she should run that place. >> thanks, chris. >> you did a good job and explained by your performance here tonight and honest responses to my question, the problem. coming up, assault weapons plan is ban. 67% americans do support assault weapons ban. why does the nra keep winning? if progressives want to win, draw the line, now background

checks. 90% of americans support them. let's let your member of congress know that from you on this issue, winning is the only thing. also, you have probably seen this scene from last week's cpac conference where one participant defended slavery. we're going to talk to an african-american doing a documentary called "black tea" about why some black people actually joined the tea party. going wobbly on ashleigh judd. she would lose the senate race to mitch mcconnell and take down other democrats with her. key democrats including bill and hillary clinton are lining up behind another democrat. fasten your seat belts for that race. watch why cnn's dana bash is running after michele bachmann and what is it that bachmann clearly doesn't want to talk about. this is "hardball," a place for politics. wait g, waiting... feel like you're growing older... waiting to look younger? don't wait. [ female announcer ] get younger looking skin fast. with new olay regenerist micro-sculpting cream.

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comeback. sanford finished first in yesterday's congress am primary to replace tim scott who moved on to the senate. sanford won 37% of the vote which means he faces a runoff two queeks from frou. the candidates in second and third place were so close there will be an automatic recount to determine who sanford will face in that runoff. on the democratic side, colbert bush, sister of stephen colbert, finished first as expected. we'll be right back. tion. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. i'm here in your home, having a pretty spectacular tuesday. ♪ but i don't notice the loose rug at the top of your stairs. and that's about to become an issue for me. ♪ and if you got the wrong home insurance coverage,

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welcome back to "hardball." harry reid dealt a devastating blow to gun control supporters yesterday when he signaled his bill next month won't include senator dianne feinstein's assault weapons ban. handing a political victory in round one to the nra. according to reid it was a numbers game. >> right now her amendment using the most optimistic numbers has less than 40 votes. that's not 60. i'm not going to try to put somebody on the floor that won't succeed. i want something that will

succeed. >> i saw that coming. feinstein who has championed the cause for decades of fighting assault weapons plans to keep fighting for her ban. >> very powerful. i've known that all my wife. it doesn't take a weapon away from anyone. i mean, my goodness, the nra says there are 2 million of these or 3 million of them, whatever it is, in the country already. how many assault weapons do you need in the united states of america? >> well, the new york covered that this morning. look at that, wow. the headline "shame on u.s., assault weapons bill is dead." that is tough. surrounded by the photos of the children there killed in newtown, connecticut. not a bad memory to keep in mind. first, just three months after newtown and eight months after the aurora, colorado shootings in the movie theater it's time to do something. tonight i'm urging y'all to call your senators and members of congress. i don't hardly ever do this but if you have a pencil or a piece of paper write this down. you can decide whether to do it in the next hour but you ought to do it.

202 is the d.c. number. 224-3121. 224-3121. i will give that number later. it's the capitol operator. if you don't confused, they will help you. i think it is time to act if you want to have any say on this thing on gun control. i think the way to fight for this right now is the background checks. go for background check on gun sales. this is the line of defense right now. background checks. a reasonable thing given what happened in newtown, a very disturbed person involved in killing those kids. at least find out if there are people with mental oh emotional problems, who have bad records, shouldn't be getting guns. this is the time to see if the background checks work. mark and emily is here. thank you. i want to talk to mark. and let me just tell you what i want to do here tonight. i want to face faks. i'm a political guy. not especially spent my life finding gun safety although i did write my letter to congress. johnny carson said to do it and

he was nonpolitical. i said, damn it, i'm going to write a letter. i think the line of defense and i hope you can focus on it right now is background checks. how can anybody oppose something that 92% of the american people want. in other words, any thoughtful person who isn't derangedly pro gun says, yeah, we ought to make sure the crazy people, whatever we want to call them, deranged, whatever, dangerous people, husbands who beat up wives and threaten them, people like that should not have guns. let's talk about that, if you can, mark. you're the expert. >> you're right. nobody in the public does oppose background checks. very few people in the actual gun lobby do, either. 74% of nra members think they should get a background check because they get background checks. >> members. what about la pierre and p t. people who get paid by the nra? >> there's a big difference between gun owners, gun dealers as my dad was and the nra leadership in the business of making money, paying their executives, and selling more

guns. the way they do that is by creating a constant atmosphere of hysteria in which any reform is just another step on a slippery slope to gun confiscated. they said in the mcdonald decision it's now off the table. >> yeah. >> yeah, i mean, i think the nra has proven that they're better at this so far. >> describe the politics of this and why harry reid yanked assault weapons, why we never even got the magazine limit of ten rounds on your magazine for the semi automatics. why that never got even in play here. >> well, i mean, it's partly a testament to the power of the nra, the power of the nra with democrats. look at what's going to happen in 2014, democrats are up in red states. people like kay hagan, folks like that who don't want to be on record supporting the assault weapons ban. the house figured as well to add the assault weapons ban to any

major bill would kill it. >> even though a majority of people want a ban. >> the reality is polls don't vote. polls aren't up for re-election. all of the folks in the red states are up for re-election in 2014. i think in many ways they will be happy to vote against an amendment, this assault weapons ban, but also support universal background checks. that will make them look moderate. >> mark, how do you build an organization of people that really do keep their minds on and their money on gun safety? >> well, i think we've started to do it. at this point we have more than 00 mayors around the country, 100 are republicans. we have almost 1.5 million grass root supporters and all of them are about as heated up as we have seen about anything. they recognize this is a national moment. if you're going to turn this issue around, now is the time. we've sent more than 200,000 e-mails into the white house and members of congress and shut down switch board and won a major victory in colorado that was pretty hard fought. i think the predicate is there.

success is patchwork but it is going to come. >> how do you get people to remind themselves? i know this is a tough one. the gun owner cleans his gun, he packs his shells, he goes hunting, he goes skeet shooting, he has friends who are hunters. he's constantly reinvesting in their gun. they're t not gun nuts but that point of view has a self energizing as expect to it. how does a person who doesn't want a gun in their house, doesn't want their kids to have a gun, doesn't even go to movies with guns in it, how does that person keep in mind and their hearts the determination to vote for gun safety candidates against gun rights unlimited types? >> here's how they do it. something that you know and we know is the 33 americans are murdered in this country every day with guns. that's a virginia vishlg tech or newtown tragedy every single day. but under most circumstances, most days you don't hear about that. it doesn't make news other than locally sometimes.

that's changed since newtowns. people are seeing the mass shootings happening and the scale is grandeur. as a result, when one or two people have killed in idaho when you wouldn't have paid attention before, suddenly it's making headlines. our staff makes sure when people are killed who normally wouldn't pay attention to that that word gets out. >> what do you make of that kid killed in virginia. sad case. the kid is drunk. comes home. sneaks in the window he thinks of his house. it's the neighbor's house. the guy kills him. >> right. >> with a gun. >> there's a difference between what happens in your house and what happens outside of your house. the law has said if you have an intruder in the house and no way to escape, you can use deadly force. our concern is like in florida that pass these shoot first laws that say if you are able to claim that you were concerned about your safety, you can shoot to kill anywhere you happen to be. >> that's what's happening. >> i think a lot of the activity is in the states. you mentioned colorado, states like maryland, new york

obviously, pass very tough restrictions on guns. and that's where the action is. if you look at the history of gun laws in this country, stutter steps about ten or so pass in the history of this country, took seven years for the brady bill to finally become law and then it was challenged by the nra. this happens in fits and starts. it's not just overnight these sorts of laws have passed. and everythii think we're seein beginning. it's surprising that universal background checks might actually pass. i talked with some folks over in the house who say maybe it doesn't even come up there but it looks like it had momentum in the senate. >> i'm like mayor nutter in philadelphia, get the guns off the streets, too. mark glaze, thank you. i'm going to be saying by the end of the show, i think i'll mention it five times. by the way, it's 202-224-3121. call your senate right now. make some noits. up next, another whopper about approximately obama from none other than michele bachmann is back and she dodges a report.

look at her there. trying to ask questions about bachmann, that's next. we'll be right back. mention it five times. we'll be right back. [ male ann] i've seen incredible things.

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are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. back to "hardball." now back to the sideshow. last night i attended the saturday patrick's day reception and president obama took note of the ish risch roots of his own administration. >> my new chief of staff is a mcdonough. my national security adviser is a don el. our new cia director is brennan. joe biden has very kindly agreed to stay on as irish man in chief. joe couldn't be here tonight because he's on his way back from the installation of pope francis in rome. for those of you who know joe, literally the only thing that could keep him away from st.

patrick's day at the white house is the installation of a new pope. >> nice night. by the way, jimmy fallon spotted biden in a photo at the installation mass and what might be the easiest game of where's waldo ever. >> vice president joe biden actually attended pope francis' first mass. have you seen this picture? >> yes. >> this is unbelievable. it's a picture of him in the crowd. see if you can find biden. see if you can find -- are you kidding me? this is a real photo focused up. >> next, michele bachmann earns recognition from the waug post for a factually challenged statement she made at cpac last week. here's the part that earned her four pinocchios from the post fact checkers. >> there is a problem. a new book is out talking about the perks and the excess of the $1.4 billion a year presidency that we're paying for. this is a lifestyle that is one

of excess. now we find out that there are five chefs on air force one. we are also the ones who are paying for someone to walk the president's dog. paying for someone to walk the president's dog. >> well, the "washington post" points out that the $1.4 billion figure covers security expenses required to protect any president. we had right now in addition to other staffing. there was no influx of excessive staffing when president obama came to the white house. and the dog walker she mentions is in reality the white house grounds keeper. cnn's dana bash attempted to follow up with bachmann about what he had said. the as a result, both women out of breath and a dramatic shift in topic. >> what i want to ask you about is the fact that you talked about the excesses that he's engaged in, the fact that he has a dog walker which is not true. >> the big point of my speech was about benghazi. this was an absolute dissass

center. >> you also made specific accusations about the president spending money that other presidents also made. >> the real issue is there are four americans that are dead. the secretary of state was not in conversation with a secretary of defense or with the chair of the joint chiefs of staff. >> i think that's an important point. if you want to focus on that -- >> that's it. that's what's important. do you want to talk about dog handlers and there's four americans killed? >> congresswoman, you're the one who put it up. >> of course, this is the first time michele bachmann has commented on lavish spending by president obama. he said his trip to india would cost money. the massively inflated figure obama used, or rather michelle did, originally anonymous source in mumbai and totally discredited. next, when you hear that web members of the west borrow church is going to show up at a church, they are not welcome. the group is united in the belief that god, god, hates

gays. and they go around to events like military funerals attempting to spread their message. anyway, when the house across the street from the church, their church in topeka, kansas, went up for sale last year one person saw an opportunity and bought the place. take a look at the new paint job. there you have it. the individual who bought the home across the wisboro 3w57 test church is home of the group called planting peace. newest headquarters is a statement, isn't it, of gay pride. they've got to look at that across the street now. up next, how big a problem is racism in the tea party? we talk to filmmaker behind a new documentary called "black tea" about why some african-americans joined the tea party. this is going to be a hot debate coming up here. this day calls you.

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cnbc market wrap. the dow janed 56 points. the s&p adds ten and the nasdaq viz 25 points. stocks rallied after the fed kept interest rates unchanged near zero and said it plans to continue buying $85 billion in debt until unemployment falls to 6 1/2%. now for the closing bell. software giant oracle reported revenue and earnings. shares are trading lower after hours. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to "hardball." welcome back. one of the more unsettling takeaways from this week's or last week's cpac conference from a video from a breakout session called trump the race card. are you sick and tired of being called a racist when you say, when you know you're not one?

on monday we showed a short clip from that event where a participant suggested slaves should have been thankful for free food and lodging during those hundreds of years of slavery. a documentary was in the room as well and more video of the exchange. let's watch. >> it seems to me like you're reaching out to voters, with the program that you're offering us, at the expense of young white southern males like myself, my demographic. my problem is why can't we be more like booker t. washington republicans. mistakenly what's being unified. >> they call booker t. washington, he was the originator. okay? so when you stay douglas, douglas was not -- >> how about the unity and diversity? >> what about that? we just talked about that. give you an example. here's an example. when he escaped from slavery, i think 10 years or 20 years, he writes a letter and said, i

forgive you, for all the things you did to me. >> for giving for giving him shelter and food all them years? >> no. >> in a moment we'll be joined by kevin dotson who is produce that documentary from which that video was shot, called black tea, about black members, members of the tea party. with us now the professor of political science at the university of washington and author of the upcoming book "change they can't believe in, the tea party and reactionary politics in america." thank you for joining us. it seems to me that when a lot of us who work on this show and have watched this program we have made a real effort to show the face of the tea party. all the placards up there, the hitler mustaches, the black face, if you will, super imposed on the face of barack obama. these obvious racial things that keep popping up in the visuals. what is your study tell you about the nature of the racial peace here of the tea party? >> well, thanks for having me, chris. my study suggests that there is

a strain of racism in the tea party going all of the way back to when it began in 2010. there's definitely a racist strain but it goes beyond racism, homophobia as well, chris. >> let's talk about how they fit together. >> sure. >> is it a resuffmption of the d south, the dreamy nostalgia you get in the old movies like "gone with the wind"? when there are no gays, where blacks were slaves, mexicans were in mexico. i mean, is this what they want? >> that's precisely the case, chris. what we've found out and come up with reactionary conservative. a regular conservative or mainstream conservative recognizes change is necessary to avoid revolutionary change. reactionary conservative wants to go back in time. in the book we tie the me party to the no nothing party of the 1850s, klan of the 1920s.

it's the same -- it's the same belief system, chris. this idea that they're scared of losing the america that they know and love to these other groups of people. >> yeah, they go back further to the no nothings. you know that history. >> yes. >> that's before the civil war. let me go to the other voice here. kevin dotson, you're working on a film. what have you discovered so far about the black, the attitude towards black within the tea party, the attitude of blacks toward the tea party, if you will. >> the attitude of blacks toward the tea party been the tea party obviously is very favorable. they're involved in tea party for a very interesting reasons, that are -- that have to do with morality, that have to do with conservative values. a number of them has to do with fiscal conservatism. >> yeah. because the tea party seems to be, if anything, anti-federal government. why would an african-american who was history comes from freedom basically the insistence

of the federal government federal rights against state rights, why on the issue just basic ethnicity in history why would they want to identify with a group that is basically pro-state rights? >> that's one of the questions that compelled me to make this documentary. i became sbreed in it because i saw dr. king giving the key note address at glenn beck's rally on the anniversary of the "i have a dream" speech and i became fascinated. why is she involved in it and why are a number of other black people that i found, herman cain, a number of other black people who take different roles, from everyday people, the two or three that i found in the crowd at tea party rallies and conventions to people that are on stage, people who are political pundits, people who are behind political candidates or now senators in texas, for instance. >> okay. >> it's a very fascinating question and one that i explore. >> good luck with your

documentary. it seems to me if you look at the issues about not everybody in the tea party, a lot are made of government spending. i can say that. it is out of hand. we always have deficits and debt. how can you not wor pry about that. they do seem integrally involved in phobia, a lot of we don't want anybody else coming to this country. >> yeah, yeah, that's -- that's true, chris. it's this idea that they're losing their country. they fear change. they fear -- they're anxious about the change that we see. we see the browning of america. we see, you know, the gay rights movement is preceding at pace. you know, we saw the first female speaker of the house not too long ago. so it's this change that they have a problem dealing with, chris. and let me get to the point about -- >> why would somebody care -- i always wondered about this. why would somebody who is white care about whether the country is white 100 years from now? they're not going to be here.

your nature will change with the country's nature. it does sound like pure racism. if you want the country to be tribally white 100 years from now. i don't know why a black person would care either. why do people speculate the way they think what the country will be like in 100 years. i don't get that. >> when we think about what the typical american is, this is shown throughout social science literature. it's white, male, protestant, straight, married. right? so when we think about any departure from this type is considered the other or considered unamerican, whereas that type considers himself to be the real americans. so they fear this change. this loss of their lifestyle is slipping away. this sort of white male protestant lifestyle. >> well, jackie robinson was a real american, wasn't he? i think. i'm just trying to go through

the list. just kidding. willie mays, i think he was an american. i think a lot of great americans, not just them who are definitely really americans. thank you. i can't imagine the country without them. thank you, kevin dotson, and thank you, good luck with your doc. not so sure ashleigh judd is the best candidate to take on mitch mcconnell. that is a huge question que in kentucky and now bill and hillary clinton is lining up behind another woman. that's ahead. this is going to be an interesting fight in kentucky. this is "hardball," the place for politics. your li and career change, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust your retirement plan along the way. rethink how you're invested. and refocus as your career moves forward. wherever you are today, a fidelity ira has a wide range of investment choices to help you fine-tune your personal economy. call today and we'll make it easy to move that old 401(k) to a fidelity no-fee ira.

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this is going to be fun. is ashleigh judd actually potentially toxic for democrats in kentucky? bill clinton must think so. that's ahead.

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or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. . we're back and there's enormous excitement in some democratic circles of the prospect of ashley judd taking her star power to kentucky and running against mitch mcconnell for the senate. hillary and bill clinton worry that it will be a fail for her

and toxic for the bowed down democrats. bill clinton has said to prefer alison lundergan grimes. there's been a facebook page set up encouraging her to run. democrats would knock off mcconnell and are urged by his sinking poll numbers. he knows how to run. after all, he's done it five times. robert fineman and jim carroll. let's talk about this -- jim, you first. you first. two women running, two guys talking about it, okay? >> we're qualified. >> ashley judd and secretary of state grimes. is the party worried that there's too much hollywood attached to ashley judd and that's what people vote against, not for? >> i think it's not so much the

hollywood. it's culturally and politically. kentucky is really a conservative state. it does elect statewide democrats but the question is whether she can be married, her obvious liberal views can be married to a state that is so culturally and politically conservative. that's what she's weighing a he what democrats are saying more publicly about. >> why is she running? who is encouraging her to run in kentucky? >> well, she is, first of all. she's very ambitious politically and has been for many years, since she went to harvard to get her graduate degree, she's seventh, eight generation kentuckyian. number two, i think democrats in kentucky are for her and there's a lot of money there. barack obama raised a tlot of money. based in louisville, part of the

big -- >> okay. i know you're a were roer but here's a little speculation. mitch mcconnell gets up and hears that someone ran the democratic primary, who does he want to hear won it? >> i guess at this point they would say ashley judd because she doesn't have the ties to -- the political ties to kentucky. she has a lot of biographical ties to kentucky. she went to uk and grew up there and all of that but she doesn't have the on the ground knowledge, the statement that somebody like alison does. >> bill clinton -- i saw the earmarks of bill clinton. >> yes. >> the fingerprints. he likes this candidate grimes who is secretary of state because he liked her father who helped him win the state twice. >> exactly. >> this is so clinton. it makes perfect sense. >> first of all, bill clinton considers kentucky a subjurisdiction. he feels very much at home there. when i went to that dinner in

kentucky that led to my story about judd, clinton was in charge. now, jerry was state party chairman, supported bill clinton heavily, supported hillary heavy. gave to the clinton library, gives to you will a of hillary's things. so when bill clinton went to that dinner, he privately met with alison and jerry, her father. alison is sort of like the daughter of a mini establishment in the state. the further complicating factor, though, is that the lundegran are at war with -- >> well, that's too much. >> it's not too much. >> because it all comes out in the wash. >> what judd has to hope is that there's a fracture in the establishment of the democratic party that bill clinton will have to heal. >> bill clinton, very popular. i think he's a talking horse for hillary clinton running for president. i think they are going to be very active next year.

is this part of it? bill clinton building the wall for hillary? >> you have to think, mitch mcconnell has give be fits to the obama administration. i'm sure bill clinton would like to have mitch mcconnell out of there. >> hillary couldn't get credit for knocking out mitch mcconnell. >> guess who catered chelsea's wedding? >> bill lundegran, alison's father. >> i love this because it's all the connections that make so much sense and nobody ever hears about them. thank you. excellent name on st. patrick's week. get your pencils ready. when we return, i'm going to tell you what you can do for victims of gun violence in this country, especially those kids up in newtown, connecticut. you can do something. it's not hard. it's doable. you do it tonight. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i don't like v8 juice. [ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit.

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